Patterson: Inequality can't be solved until we deal with plight of underprivileged kids mired in failing schools
Tom Patterson
East Valley resident Tom Patterson (pattersontomc@cox.net) is a retired physician and former state senator.
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Mike McClellan posted at 7:49 am on Mon, Oct 8, 2012.
Two things about Dr. Patterson's column:
1. The Empowerment Scholarship Accounts he touts in his piece? It will have nothing to do with getting poor kids out of failing schools. The accounts are for a very narrow population -- special ed kids -- and it does this -- which I'm surprised hasn't been challenged in court -- it allows the parents to keep all the money the state (us) provides in these accounts to pay for the kids' college.
Since when did we taxpayers decide to simply give kids money that's targeted to help the kids get through elementary and high school to pay for the kids' college tuition?
2. Despite what Patterson and other cheerleaders of choice might claim, charter schools in Arizona have had negligible effect on the state's education. And beyond a handful of high-performing, narrow-population charter schools, tradition public schools continue to outperform their charter counterparts.
Patterson and others will note that schools like BASIS are at the top of the schools for test scores. Which is true. BASIS and schools like it are outstanding schools; no one could argue that.
However . . .
What they won't tell you is that the vast majority of charter schools do no better and mostly worse than traditional schools on those same tests.
That's a fact and no matter how much Dr. Patterson and others wish it to be otherwise, it isn't.
You can read the only national, comprehensive study on charters in the U.S. (including Arizona) here --
http://credo.stanford.edu/reports/MULTIPLE_CHOICE_CREDO.pdf
jimnbubba posted at 8:52 am on Mon, Oct 8, 2012.
It's simple < let the people who foot the bill decide !!!![smile]
chatmandu002 posted at 9:27 am on Mon, Oct 8, 2012.
Tom,
Good letter, it will take time and effort from the parents to wrest control of education from the liberal/progressive teachers unions. The school boards seem to be only interested in placating the unions while sticking it to the taxpayer.
DonMey posted at 9:42 am on Mon, Oct 8, 2012.
Suppose we give these schools billions of dollars, which they use to create state-of-the-art facilities, and hire the best teachers. Then the kids don't come to school, or come and don't participate. And then they fail.
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. If you don't value your education, you're not going to get a good one, no matter who much people try and shove one down your throat.
Arizona Willie posted at 9:47 am on Mon, Oct 8, 2012.
The biggest problem with underperforming schools is --- underperforming parents.
So many many parents just flop down in front of the tv at night with a case a beer beside them and take little to no involvement in their children's education.
The expect the teachers are going to do it all.
They don't work with their kids and make sure the kid(s) do the work and understand what they have done.
The solution is to remove underperforming kids from underperforming parents and put them in boarding schools.
Take them out of an environment where education is not valued and put them in one where achievement is honored.
The kids could go home on weekends unless there were severe problems at home such as drug addict parents.
Parents should be charged for the boarding of their children if they can afford to pay something.
Yes, it would be expensive ... but how expensive is it having 40% of kids drop out of school?
How expensive is it to keep graduating kids who can't write a complete sentence?
How expensive is it to have companies send jobs overseas or import workers because they can't find people here capable of doing the job?
For some reason, our society has decided that pro athletes are to be worshiped but teachers are scorned.
We expect magnificent teachers for $35 - $40 K / year and want them to even provide class materials out of their own pocket.
And wonder why we don't get good results.
Parents who don't participate in their children's education should be minimalized and the kid should be put somewhere that education and achievement are valued.
Arizona Willie posted at 9:52 am on Mon, Oct 8, 2012.
I just read this morning that Massachusetts schools are the top performers in the country and rate well world wide too.
They were tops before Romeny was Gov and still are after he is gone from there.
They are the most heavily unionized schools in the country but also the best schools.
They also spend ( Massachusetts people ) over $14k per student compared to $7K for Arizona students.
The old saying is usually true " You get what you pay for ".
mesateacher posted at 10:17 am on Mon, Oct 8, 2012.
Mr. Patterson continues to reguritate the conservative line: it's the union's fault. Not in Arizona - not a all. There are three teacher unions in this state (NEA, AFT, and then another shadowy group known in Mesa as MPE which allegedly doesn't get involved politically.) These unions are essentially powerless thanks to our right-to-work laws and the low membership. To keep blaming unions misdirects the public as to the real culprit: and that's all of us.
Blame the parents who don't, won't raise their kids properly.
Blame the kids today who don't want to learn, who don't want to study, to pay attention in class, to do homework, to behave.
Blame the administrators who rather than doing the hard work want to puff up their resumes and work on public relations.
Blame the media, which spends more time covering one Friday night football schedule than they do for the entire rest of the year.
Blame the lawmakers which doesn't fund education correctly. We spend billions on buildings yet begrudge teachers a salary commensurate with their education levels.
Blame teachers who aren't all that scholarly. They want to be popular and liked, so dumb down their classes, pass students who in another era would be flunked.
Blame colleges who turn out teachers who may know their educational theory, but are really weak on their content area.
Blame...everyone. Face it: we live in a profoundly anti-intellectual society which saves its biggest rewards for people who can dribble, kick, or hit a ball. Who can act like total trash and make millions on a TV show (Housewives of OC, New Jersey, and more), who can be totally disgusting (Honey Boo Boo, Bill Maher). Despite all the lip service, in the US we disparage educated people. They're called nerds, losers, and worse. You can spend all you want on schools, create all the vouchers you want, but until American society changes and really values education, nothing you do will matter. Don't hold your breath.
truncate posted at 10:29 am on Mon, Oct 8, 2012.
If you want ot send your kid to a private/charter school, I'm all for it, as long as YOU pay all of the tuition and costs! The only school system I want my any of my property tax money going to is the public one.
Arizona Willie posted at 11:48 am on Mon, Oct 8, 2012.
truncate ... public schools are fine ... but some of them need to be converted to boarding schools so kids can be removed from an environment at home where their parents are non-involved ( to put it charitably ).
Without parental involvement it is highly unlikely a child will be motivated to learn.
Massachusetts spends over $14k / year per student and they get great results.
Parents there are more involved in their childs education and they man up and pay for it.
Parents here just want to complain about " throwing money at the problem " when, in fact, we are paying only half of what Masschusetts people pay.
It's no wonder Arizona kids rank at the bottom of the educational scale on a nationwide basis.
chuckles3 posted at 1:01 pm on Mon, Oct 8, 2012.
Sure wish I saw something worth commenting on. The usual cherry picked stats and facts used to support your favored position.
Funny, though, how the only freedom libs support is freedom of 'choice' to terminate an innocent life(or potential life, if you are of that mindset).
Otherwise, no freedom of choice for schools(public only!), speech(HATE speech!), food(no big sodas or trans fats!), firearms(duh), workplace(closed shops, no right to work), healthcare(OBAMAcare), religion(no moment of silence!), etc. etc.
Freedom. To paraphrase Princess Bride-"you keeping using that word-I do not think it means what you think it means."
Arizona Willie posted at 3:27 pm on Mon, Oct 8, 2012.
Gee, chuckles3, you wouldn't have some kind of vendetta going on would you?
I don't believe I saw any thread in this discussion that was about abortion -- at all.No one has mentioned it until you.
In fact, NONE of the things you started barking about speech, food, firearms, workplace, healthcare, or religion were part of the discussion.
So go bark up a tree.
samkat posted at 6:12 pm on Mon, Oct 8, 2012.
Willie: Surely you must be referring to reform schools. :-)
Truncate: I agree with you.
Rich posted at 7:50 pm on Mon, Oct 8, 2012.
Public schools are essentially indoctrination, not education. We need a diversified society, your plumber is as necessary to you as your nuclear physicist. Concentrate on math and science, and you get a lot of people who are unemployed who might have been happy as auto mechanics. Poets and artists cannot even relate to public education, and it is badly taught. Literature in high school is pure political indoctrination, not an art form. Except for a few gifted athletes, most kids don't even know how to exercise. Read Newman's Educated Man. An educated man is happier and can adapt what he has learned to any field. In public education we are not creating educated people, and until we do, it will remain a failure.
wdgnas posted at 7:01 am on Tue, Oct 9, 2012.
Parent-trigger laws are the latest tool in the struggle, now over two decades old, to wrest control of education from the special interest groups and unions. In seven states now, parents of students in chronically underperforming schools who are unable to get their school boards to act can trigger reform by collecting the signatures of a majority of the parents. Remedies vary from forcing personnel changes to closing the school and converting it to a charter school.
sounds to me there is a problem with getting the school boards to act. may just be a case of "it's not a good idea unless its mine."
Leon Ceniceros posted at 3:55 pm on Thu, Oct 11, 2012.
When the immigrants (the legal ones that is) from Europe in the mid-1800's and early 1900's came to America. The learned the language. They followed the laws. They relied on family and friends not the Federal Government.
They became proud, loyal, civic-minded Citizens. They monitored their children's education. The got the "American Dream" the old-fashioned way = THEY EARNED IT.
ILLEGAL ALIENS ARE NOT IMMIGRANTS....THEY ARE CITIZENS OF ANOTHER COUNTRY WHO HAVE EVADED THE "LEGAL POINTS OF ENTRY" INTO THE UNITED STATES. THEY DO NOT HAVE THE PROPER DOCUMENTATION SO THEY BUY FORGED OR STOLEN IDENTITES OR THE SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS OF DECEASED LEGAL AMERICANS. CAN ANYTHING BE MORE REPREHENSIBLE.
VofReason posted at 1:39 pm on Fri, Oct 12, 2012.
Today I agree with AZ willie. Though I will take it up a notch. If kids cannot pay attention, behave in class, or do their homework, they should send them to a reform school. Similarly, when adults cannot take care of themselves and rely heavily on the public dole, they should put them in work camps. In both circumstances, the goal would be to give people motivation to do what they are supposed to do. Clearly they have not cuaght on by themselves.
VofReason posted at 1:40 pm on Fri, Oct 12, 2012.
Mesa Teacher knocked it out of the park. Nice job from a person who sounds like they have lived it.
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